With the increase in different types of mobile STAs communicating over networks to servers and other computing devices, usage of IEEE 802.11 networks, as well as other types of networks such as 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) systems has increased. In particular, the use of location detection has increased dramatically in an attempt to deliver goods and services and to provide marketing such as local advertisements about goods and services to the STAs. Location detection may also be used in STA tracking (e.g. asset tracking) as well as a number of other applications. The varieties of STAs include typical STAs, such as cell phones, and Machine Type Communications (MTC) STAs, which have exploded in popularity as part of the Internet of Things (IoT). MTC STAs may pose a particular challenge in a number of circumstances as they may be low cost, low complexity and low power, leading to a host of communication issues. Examples of such MTC STAs include sensors (e.g., sensing environmental conditions) or microcontrollers in appliances or vending machines.
Each STA may periodically time synchronize to an AP to which it is attached using either an active scan by sending a probe or a passive process by scanning for one or more beacon frames. Either of these processes, however, may expend a considerable amount of power. Such power considerations may be further exacerbated in location determination of the STAs through the use of trilateration, as time synchronization may be performed by the STA for more than one AP. It would thus be desirable to provide a more power efficient method of time synchronization in STAs.